Jul 24, 2014

It isn’t often one would think Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons synonymous with ambitious psychedelia-baroque dabbling. Surprisingly so, in their lost 1969 masterpiece The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, the two are quite familiar bedfellows. Bordering on outlandish and overly ambitious at times, Valli & The Seasons nonetheless produced a genuine musical oddity that was and continues to be severely overlooked even in today’s panoptic musical scheme. Read more

Jul 16, 2014

This
somewhat gloomy, progressive album, comprising cream of the crop of the
era's Nordic session scene, plus one bass virtuoso from England, John
Gustafson (Roxy Music, Quatermass, Ian Gillan Band, Hard Stuff) is now
one of the ultimate collectors items for most Deep Purple, Atomic
Rooster and Roxy Music afficionados. It starts off quite heavy, then the
pace is slowed down with a gospel-flavoured ballad a-la early Elton and
maybe Joan Armatrading (who lead singer Beverly Glenn certainly sounds
like), which sets the mood for the rest of side A. Side B is filled with
quirky, interesting but somewhat murky prog rock, which takes a little
bit of getting used to - especially if it doesn't grab you from the
first listen; give it another chance.

Jul 15, 2014

The material on Black Oak Arkansas' Early Times collection may have been recorded in 1969, but it went unreleased until 1974 by Stax, after the band scored chart success with 1973's High on the Hog and its smash novelty single, "Jim Dandy," named for the band's gruff-voiced lead vocalist, Jim "Dandy" Mangrum. The lineup that would appear on their official debut remained intact from these sessions. Guitarist Ricky Reynolds wrote the majority of the tunes here, and while some of them showed up in different versions in concert and on other compilation records, there is a reason Early Times wasn't released when it was recorded: it isn't very good. While many could argue that Black Oak Arkansas were a throwaway version of a Southern rock group, they'd be wrong. Novelty and comedy were part of the stage show, but despite Mangrum's stage antics, their recordings were deathly serious even if some of the tunes were about getting drunk and laid. Musically, there is great sophistication here the hip horn chart on the opener, "Someone Something"; the whining pedal steel on "When I'm Gone"; the funky blues on "Collective Thinking"; etc. The problem isn't the production it's the songs. They weren't written to reflect a band's identity so much as they were for the various individuals who penned them, leaving the set as a whole unfocused and seemingly unfinished. This one is for collectors only.

Jul 6, 2014

Tracklist:1. Peace On You2. Without You3. Going To The Country4. (Please Not) One More Time5. Same Old Sound6. Do What You Want To Do7. Together8. Better Change9. Gate Of Horn10. The LadyBonus track:11. Rock And Roll Time

Jul 5, 2014

Tracklist:1. I Can Almost See It2. Love Has No Pride3. Silver Threads And Golden Needles4. Desperado5. Don't Cry Now6. Sail Away7. Colorado8. The Fast One 9. Everybody Loves A Winner10. I Believe In You

Jun 7, 2014

László Dés ounded the band Trio Stendhal with Ferenc Snétberger and Kornél Horváth. They played chamber music in a unique line-up and had extraordinary success all over the world. The band toured in Austria, Italy, Spain and other countries of Europe, but even in India.

Tracklist:

1. Gipsy Mountain2. Shanti3. Earthsound

4. Theme For Angela5. Fanny & My Father6. Galima7. Out Of Brasil8. Lullaby For All Children

Jun 5, 2014

2010 album from the veteran British rockers. Produced by Chris Tsangarides (Gary Moore, Lizzy, and Sabbath) the songs are given a powerful Hard Rock edge and are a testimonial to a band that has been around for 40 years. Del Bromham has morphed over the years into a confident and entertaining front man with both striking and individual vocal duties and his renowned guitar pyrotechnics. Valhalla is an album that showcases both Del's strengths singularly and the bands abrasive style collectively and unlike just about anyone else from his era. The album has dragged the band's '70's-rooted brand name into the 21st century with plenty to spare.

Apr 6, 2014

Color
were founded in 1975 in Debrecen, Hungary by Gyula Bokor (keys), Tibor
Bokor (bass, vocal), Attila Bokor (drum, vocal). Attila and Tibor were
students of Medical University of Debrecen.Later, in 1976 Laszlo Polya (guitar) and Emil Lamer (cello) joined.Their first album was released in 1978. It was the first symphonic rock style album in Hungary.Their
style was unique, with cello, rich polyphonic vocal, plenty of
mellotron. They were influnced by Pink Floyd, BJH, Genesis, but their
style was original.The guitarist and cellist left the group in 1979. The new guitarist, Miklos Felkai joined at the end of 1979.Their
second album was released in 1982, named Új Színek (New colours). On
this album, they changed, the music became rather simplier Aor-ish rock,
in the vein of Saga and Styx.The younger brother Attila
Bokor left the group in 1983. In 1984, they did the third album, but
this di not get released until 1999, as a bonus and reissue of second
album.

Mar 23, 2014

This
top notch Dutch band from The Hague had their pinnacle during the early
Seventies when they delivered some outstanding 24 carat symphonic rock
albums. EARTH & FIRE was founded by the twin brothers Chris
(guitar) and Gerard (keyboards) Koerts in '68. Soon bass player Hans
Ziech, drummer Kees Kalis and singer Lisette joined them. Unfortunately
Lisette had to give up singing because of a serious eye-disease and Kees
Kalis left. They were replaced by Ton v/d Kley and the beautiful, very
sexy Jerney Kaagman. She was a discovery by GOLDEN EARRING singer Barry
Hay, they knew each other from the blossoming rock scene in The Hague. Read more

Review by Joe Viglione (AMG):
Holland's Brainbox was part of the Benelux Invasion consisting of
Stockholm's ABBA, Shocking Blue from the Netherlands, Denmark's the
Savage Rose, and, of course, Blue Swede, a convergence a bit more subtle
than the British Invasion and spanning over a decade. While H.P.
Lovecraft kept changing members around the drummer, this band would
release a record with totally new people in 1972, that work entitled
Parts. Yet the original Brainbox does have qualities somewhat resembling
the earlier H.P. Lovecraft, and is a worthwhile collection of musically
diverse and eclectic performances. The decent liner notes call this
"progressive pop," and in some respects it is, though they shift gears
from the Simon & Garfunkel classic "Scarborough Fair/Canticle"
to the 17-minute plus original "Sea of Delight," and take lots of other
directions in between. The Damned had a song called "New Rose," which is
where the French record label got its name, and there was the
aforementioned Savage Rose, but Brainbox has "Dark Rose," a blend of
Jethro Tull meets the Mothers of Invention. Brainbox ups the ante by
sliding into Tim Hardin and a very credible cover of "Reason to Believe"
a full two years before Rod Stewart would get a B-side hit with it (the
original A-side of the "Maggie Mae" single), they pull off a
chameleon-like change on this to become folk rockers. Casimirz Lux has a
very appealing voice with a bit of Stewart's rasp, making "Reason to
Believe" a highlight of the album. The liner notes credit Jimmy Smith
for writing "Baby, What You Want Me to Do," but the tracking properly
gives it to Jimmy Reed, and his Top 40 1960 hit is as bluesy as you can
get here, the band changing styles yet again and showing their grasp and
appreciation of American music. From progressive rock to folk-rock to
blues-rock to the folk-pop of Simon & Garfunkel, who is to say
they weren't rewriting Blind Faith's lengthy "Do What You Like" by way
of "Sea of Joy" for their epic "Sea of Delight"? The album is a dense
amalgam of sounds and themes from England and America, but is reverent
in its borrowing and presentation. Brainbox's rendition of "Summertime"
sounds like Deep Purple adding heavy keyboard sounds and slowing up the
Billy Stewart 1966 hit reinvention of the Gershwin tune from Porgy
& Bess. Of course, Janis Joplin did it two years earlier than
Brainbox and psychedelicized it with an immortal performance - but a
good song is a good song, and this is Jan Akkerman before he would give
us "Hocus Pocus" from Focus, and that fact makes the album more than
just a curiosity. Since these gents were so enamoured of American music,
it seems credible that they took the Vanilla Fudge sound - famous in
Europe a year before it hit in America - and put it on a Janis Joplin
favorite. This is much more than the "bargain bin" item many American
record buyers passed it off as. It's a real diamond in the rough.

Dr.
Hook and the Medicine Show was a pop-country rock band formed around
Union City, New Jersey in 1969. Although they're best known for their
hit single "The Cover of the Rolling Stone," their other top ten hits
include "Sylvia's Mother," "When You're in Love with a Beautiful
Woman," and "Sexy Eyes." In addition to their own originals, Dr. Hook
and the Medicine Show performed songs written by poet Shel Silverstein,
of children's book fame...

Feb 16, 2014

Caught between the cusp of two eras; homespun earthiness melding with Blues orientated rock that would flourish in the 70s, "Honest Injun" is closer to Sherwood Forest than the Mississippi Delta. Both a period piece and a collectors' item, the release of "Honest Injun" by Granny's Intention will no doubt be of immense interest to Gary Moore/Thin Lizzy fans. For such a well-chronicled musician, little information is available on Granny's Intentions, with whom Gary made his recording debut at the age of 17. Featuring the fantastic talent of Gary Moore on guitar, this classic album also boasts Neil Bridgeman of Skid Row on drums, and the legendary Johnny Duhan on vocals, who went on to become a major songwriter in his own right, penning the worldwide multi-million selling "The Voyage" which was released by Christy Moore.